HUMPTY DUMPTY HAS CRACKED!

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Forensic Science Project




***News Flash***

From the Eggy Newspaper

At 4:00 pm the shattered remains of Humpty Dumpty were found at egg wall. Mr Humpty use to spend most of his day sitting atop egg wall and philosophize about life. As a lifetime resident of the town Sunny Side Up, he will be greatly missed by everyone. One resident was heard remarking, "I'll miss Humpty's daily comments like 'lets get crackin'."

Police have begun investigating this terrible crime and report that they have three suspects. These suspects are Ms Yolk, Mr Chaleza, Mr E.G. White.

Ms Yolk was seen with Mr Humpty at about 11:00 am the day of the crime. Under questioning she confessed that she was secretly in love with Mr Humpty and had recently written him a note. The note had been included in a bag of sugar candy, but that Mr Humpty only wanted to be friends. She admits she kept some of the candy for herself.

Mr Chaleza indicated he had walked by the egg wall at about 1:00 pm the day of the crime after he had gone shopping for some baking supplies. Mr Humpty was not present at this time. Mr Chaleza remembered that he tripped near the wall and broke his pen. The ink not only stained his shirt, but spilt on the ground. He showed the police the ink stain on his shirt. Mr Chaleza wanted to talk to Mr Humpty as he was romantically interested in Ms Yolk, but thought that Yolk and Humpty already had a relationship together. When questioned, Mr Chaleza was unsure how far he would have gone to break up Humpty and Yolk

Mr E.G. White is a glove salesman by trade. He had loaned Mr Humpty a large sum of money several months ago and was anxious to have it returned. He states that he was on a sales call all afternoon the day of the crime, but police are unable to confirm this as fact. Further investigation has revealed the Mr E.G. White's pen company was in financial difficulties. When police collected his pen from Mr White, they found a white powder in his pocket. The powder was also collected as evidence.

Other Evidence Collected by Police

Police have examined the crime scene and obtained the following pieces of evidence

  1. A fingerprint was lifted from the remains of Mr Humpty
  2. A fiber was obtained from the broken body and can be examined along with fiber from each suspect
  3. A ripped piece of paper which might be a possible note was recovered from the crime scene. It is thought that the person who wrote the note may be responsible for Mr Humpty's demise.
  4. A white powder was found beside the shattered shell of Mr Humpty
  5. Fingerprints and DNA samples are available for your inspection.

Your Assignment

Your assignment is to determine who scrambled Humpty Dumpty. Pens, fiber and powder were obtained from the suspects. These pieces of evidence are located in the appropriate containers. Copies of the suspects fingerprints and DNA samples are also available. You must include the results of all your tests in the table below. Using the evidence collected and analyzed, name the most likely suspect, provide evidence to support your claim, and provide a reason, supported by the evidence, why the other suspects are innocent.


Humpty_Matrix
  1. The most likely suspect is:

  2. Why I think this suspect committed the crime -

  3. Why I believe the other suspects did not commit the crime -

  4. Does all the evidence fit your conclusions? If not, why do you think this is so?

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For more information contact: lsandner@cln.etc.bc.ca